Grant Shapps, the new Conservative Party Chairman, deemed it "irresponsible"
for ministers to ignore the need to boost aviation capacity, saying "we’re
not just going to turn a blind eye."

Grant Shapps, the new Conservative Party Chairman, has admitted that a third runway at Heathrow is back on the table following the Cabinet reshuffle.

Ruling out expansion at the airport for the current Parliament, which is due to end in 2015, he said that it would be "irresponsible" of ministers to ignore the need to boost aviation capacity, saying "we’re not just going to turn a blind eye."

David Cameron used his first major reshuffle to sideline opponents of the third runway, including Justine Greening, who was moved from the post of Transport Secretary to International Development. Patrick McLaughlin, the new Transport Secretary, is thought to be more open to the Heathrow scheme than Miss Greening, whose Putney constituency is under the airport's flightpath.

Her departure led to fury from opponents of the runway, including Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, who favours the building of a new airport elsewhere in the Capital.

After new Cabinet Ministers, including Mr Shapps, took to the airways to try to defuse the row by claiming that the policy had not changed, the Mayor challenged the Prime Minister to rule out a third runway at Heathrow after 2015.

Mr Shapps refused to do that, and confirmed that ministers had an "open mind" on airport expansion. He disclosed that a consultation into the future of aviation in the Capital would listen to voices in favour of a third runway, saying: "If we are going to remain a great trading nation in the future, you need to have ports.

"Airports are particularly important these days and there are a lack of slots in the South East around London and it must be addressed, otherwise we are dooming ourselves to economic failure in the future," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I think you want to have a good look around at all the various different options and, let's face it, there are a lot of them on the table. We certainly want to take evidence from everybody on this."

Mr Johnson made clear his opposition to a third runway, calling on the Prime Minister to "end the uncertainty and rule out the third runway both now and in the future".

He went on: "There's lots of stuff been coming out of Whitehall to suggest that a U-turn is in progress and they want to build a third runway at Heathrow - all the pressure from businesses to do the third runway, that's where the Treasury seems to be focusing its hopes.

"I think that is a profound mistake. It is not deliverable, it would do massive environmental damage, not just in west London but for residents across the city. There are much, much better solutions that will deliver long-term growth and jobs."

Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative backbencher, repeated his threat to resign as MP for the west London seat of Richmond if the third runway was given the go-ahead.

Saying that the departure of Miss Greening was a clear signal of Mr Cameron's intentions to change his policy, after the Party and Coalition Agreement ruled out a third runway, he said: "I think it is impossible to pretend that this isn't a sign."

Also on Today, Mr Shapps denied suggestions that the reshuffle represented a move to the right, with the promotion of individuals such as Owen Paterson, the new Environment Secretary, and Chris Grayling at the Department of Justice.

He said: “People make a huge fuss about these things...what you’re looking for is the right people to do the job.”

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister, also rejected the analysis, saying: "Right from day one this government was anchored in the centre ground. We've got a Coalition agreement which is there, which is a tablet of stone setting out what we are going to do. That is not going to change.

"I think the British people want us in the centre ground, they want us where the vast majority of British people are."

Meanwhile, James Purnell, the former Labour cabinet minister, has offered advise to new ministers, telling them to ignore briefings from civil servants.

He told the Financial Times: "This morning, eight new secretaries of state will sit at their new desks. Their predecessors’ family photos and coffee cups have been packed. A thick briefing folder stares up at the new minister, full of problems to solve and programmes to cut. The last thing they should do is read it.

"These first few days are not about a battle of ideas; they are a battle of caricatures. Westminster wants to know what defines the new minister. In political jargon, they want a “frame” through which to interpret their policies and speeches. If a new secretary of state does not provide their own frame, the media or the opposition will do it for them.

"A dinner with a cabinet colleague is worth 20 minuted meetings in front of civil servants. It is time well spent – certainly better than on reading the briefing packs. With apologies to the civil servants who wrote them, I admit I never did."